Chaotic by Kelley Armstrong Read Free Book Online

thump, but he heard it. Of course he heard it.
    Werewolf. Heightened smell, heightened hearing, heightened strength . . .
    I knew all this, so why did I keep forgetting until it was too late? I was out of my league. Way out of it, and I would pay for my hubris—
    “Let’s make this easy,” he said, his smooth mask back in place. “You don’t want to play hide-and-seek with me. I have all the advantages, and a low tolerance for frustration. So we’ll skip the games. If you feel safer in your hidey-hole—” He scanned the room. “You’re welcome to stay there. You can hear me, and that’s all that matters.”
    He turned slowly, searching for me even as he said he wouldn’t. Bastard.
    I shifted my shoulders, testing my space limits again. Too tight. I’d been able to turn around with the vent open but, without that added space, I was stuck. No, not stuck. I could move backward. Awkward, slow, and probably loud, but if it came to that, I would. He’d barely fit in here—if at all—so I could still move faster than he could.
    “Whoever you are, you’re of no interest to me,” he continued. “That means I have no particular desire to hurt you. So you have a choice. Tell me who you’re working for, and I’ll step aside and let you out this door. Refuse, and I’ll use you for leverage. That’s not a position you want to be in.”
    I stayed still and quiet.
    “I don’t have all night,” he said. “Nor do you. When I hear your associates approach—which I’m sure will be soon—I’ll sniff you out, and the choice will be made. After that, whether you walk out of here depends on how willing your employer is to negotiate.”
    I said nothing. As he moved, his nostrils flared, still searching. Then he stopped and smiled. His gaze lifted to the ventilation shaft.
    “Ah, there you are.”
    A quick leap and he was on the desk. As he pulled off the cover, I scrambled backward. I got about five feet before my shoulders hit the sides, stopping me. While I struggled to back up, he peered into the shaft and smiled, his teeth glinting in the dark.
    “I do believe you’ve backed yourself into a corner.”
    I wriggled, but the shaft had narrowed, and the more I moved, the tighter I wedged myself in.
    “Are you going to tell me who you work for?” he said.
    “I already did,” I snarled.
    “And I told you, I know better.” His voice was calm, conversational, no trace of the cold fury from earlier. “You’re obviously a bright young woman, and quite capable of thinking on your feet, as you proved earlier, so why you insist on sticking to this story—”
    “Don’t bother. I know who I work for, and nothing you say is going to make me second-guess that—or betray them.”
    He lifted his hand to his mouth and rubbed it, his gaze searching mine.
    “You didn’t kill that security guard, did you?” he said.
    “Kill—!” I gritted my teeth. “We both know who—and what—killed him, so don’t try pinning that on me.”
    “That spot on your dress. I suppose you’ll tell me it isn’t blood.”
    I snorted. “It’s the marinara sauce from the damn mussels you threw at me in the buffet line.”
    “I threw —?”
    He rubbed his mouth and growled. Or I thought it was a growl, until I saw his eyes dancing and realized he was laughing.
    “All right. Here.” He reached into the shaft. “Come on out of there. I believe we both have a problem, and we’d best set about resolving it before your ‘associates’ arrive.”
    “You really think I’m a fool, don’t you?”
    He tilted his head, as if considering it. “A fool? Young, yes. Reckless, yes. Naïve, probably. But foolish? No. Not foolish. You—”
    A sound from the hall. A door opening, then closing. He swiveled, his eyes narrowing as if tracking something I couldn’t hear. His gaze shot to the door handle and he mouthed a silent oath.
    “Couldn’t lock it, could you?” I said. “That’s the problem with breaking things. They tend to stay